short serve and the push

Discussion in 'Techniques / Training' started by saifiii, Mar 13, 2009.

  1. saifiii

    saifiii Regular Member

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    take this scenario for instance;
    i, a left hander, play a short serve from the left service court and my opponent just pushes straight into my backhand rear corner, which only allows me to play a weak drop return as its nearly impossible to turn and play an intercept OVER my opponent.
    my only option hereby is to flick serve from the left which exposes me to his deadly smash, most of which i can only lift from my backhand side bcz of a strong wrist.
    my question is, would you commit yourself to the backhand rear corner after the short serve or just attempt to strengthen the backhand action to force through a drive or a high lift?
     
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  2. Joseph

    Joseph Regular Member

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    Just be prepared for the shot and just do a fast cross lift to the opposite corner. Watch your opponents body language and where they're taking the shot, eliminate corners and shot selection, then come up with your own reply.

    Best case scenario for me would, a straight smash from my opponent where I would then do a cross court block.
     
  3. mhigham

    mhigham Regular Member

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    there are of course more than just 2 options to you, otherwise all points would follow a formula.

    If you feel your backhand is your weakness you should work on it if possible. Get comfortable with 2 or 3 shots from that very position, and at least this will get rid of the stress of anticipating this shot which can often be the thing which affects players most.
     
  4. hhwoot

    hhwoot Regular Member

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    Left or right handedness doesn't matter in this situation. If your short serve can be pushed, then it's either not low enough or your opponent is standing too close to the net. So my suggestion is to serve better or to flick serve when you see that your opponent is too close or prepared to rush.
     
  5. DivingBirdie

    DivingBirdie Regular Member

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    my guess is you're standing too close to the net, making your serve trajectory less flat, and recovery poorer.
     
  6. mettayogi

    mettayogi Regular Member

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    The purpose of low serve in singles is to gain attack or at least don't give away the attack. If you are forced to lift, that defeats the purpose.

    Stand right next to central line and after center of court for low serve. If your split step is correctly timed, you can reach returns to your BH in 2 steps, preferably around-the-head. Watch TH video on his low serve and follow-up, and you'll see he keeps his racket foot forward after the serve, and push off from racket foot powerfully for BH return.
     
  7. saifiii

    saifiii Regular Member

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    the guy i play against is really quick. so he stands a good meter back from service line and i too stand a foot or 2 back for my service line. but now, after playing against him for 4-5 days, i can usually tell whether he's gonna play a net reply or a push
     
  8. bhtan

    bhtan Regular Member

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    Based on your discription of your position, your opponent must be a right handler. And your serve habit is to serve to middle of court.

    The quality of your serve does not matter, because middle is ideal for him ( a right handler) and as long as he rush in and the shuttle take early.

    I would think your serve must be made more be unpredictable ,deceptive.

    0) vary the time of you serve (at time just stand like a status at serve position for 3-4 second).
    1) sudden fast low to rear middle (if he stands too centre)
    2) sudden cross-court short serve (if he stands too middle) so that he need to take your serve with his back racket face , instead of fore racket face. Him his push will be still to your backhand rear but the quality will reduce.
    3) serve to middle center (as usual) but serve short. If he rush in, it is very hard judge your the shuttle is short. he may find himself need to knee down to push the shuttle.

    The quality of those serve mention above is not so important. The unpredictabilty is important . When you serve ?where you serve? and speed and suddeness of serve is the key.

    Finally dont have worry you need to serve them 21 times. After he fumble 2 to 3 times, he wont rush in again. Your normal footwork and backhand will work.
     
  9. Sketchy

    Sketchy Regular Member

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    Maybe now you start to see why I think the deep forehand serve is still best for singles.

    Try serving as high as possible (right up to the ceiling), so the shuttle drops vertically (makes it harder to time a smash) right into your opponent's outside corner. Mix it up with the odd short serve to maybe get a few cheap points aswell.

    Unless your opponent is a *very* good player, his smash isn't going to be much of a threat from the very back of the court, and you have plenty of time to get in position ready for it. Also, if he does decide to smash or drop, then a short cross-court will leave him having to run the full diagonal-length of the court.
     
  10. saifiii

    saifiii Regular Member

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    the high serve is indeed a trick, but if some*good* player has a deadly crosscourt jump smash, then ur screwed
     
  11. Sketchy

    Sketchy Regular Member

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    Well, no it's not a "trick". You'll see there's another thread discussing it, but it's a legitimate serve to be used more often than not in singles. Just because most pros now use the short serve, doesn't mean the rest of us should too.

    It would have to be a very very deadly smash, and something tells me you wouldn't be asking the question in the first place if you were playing opponents that good.
    Bearing in mind that the smash is going to be from the back of the court, and you're going to be perfectly positioned to receive it, it's more a reflection of your defense than anything if you can't return it easily. It's not like your return needs to be be anywhere near perfect - there's no net-man threatening to kill it in singles.
    If you really want to cut out the threat of a crosscourt, then serve high down the middle instead of out wide.

    Anyway - try it, you might like it :)
     
    #11 Sketchy, Mar 23, 2009
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2009
  12. Shifty

    Shifty Regular Member

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    depending on the player, you serve high or low. if you low serve, you should be prepared for drives and pushes. you serve low to prevent the opponent gaining the advantage of being able to attack straight away. in turn, you make yourself more open to flat pushes and lifts.

    good footwork and good intentions will help you get to the shots quickly and push/smash it back at them. you might need to practice these specific scenarios more often to get a feel of what to do. most importantly, you have to understand why you're short serving.

    i think Sketchy has it pretty well covered in regards to the high serve. although i say that your opponent doesn't need a godly smash. as long as he's putting you under enough pressure from it, you shouldn't serve long
     
    #12 Shifty, Mar 24, 2009
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2009
  13. saifiii

    saifiii Regular Member

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    shifty is right. giving away any sort of smash to your opponent places u under some pressure whatever the case maybe. i have been training my directional split drop which has helped me get into a good position to hit a cross-court backhand drop or even an awkward round the head. by the way thx for the reply.(my problem's solved now)
     
  14. Shifty

    Shifty Regular Member

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    if the shuttle is pushed low enough, you should be able to take just one step and leap up and cut it off around the rear mid court area. if you can get a decent smash or good drop in, this is very effective.

    against pushes and flat lifts, its imperative to cut it off early. that way, you turn a disadvantage into an advantage
     

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